Overweight-what to lose

[Backdraft]

Having seen what some people shove into their vans, to cover all eventualities, a hypothetical question for you.

In the unlikely event that you were checked by VOSA or the police and were prohibited from moving until no longer overwight what would you jettison?

No prize will be awarded for saying "the spouse". Semi-serious question, if you were stuck in a lay-by 100mls from home how would you lose a couple of hundred kilos?

 

[RobbyMClark]

Dump all water Inc's cassette if they want to be picky.

 

[63720]

Carried a complete water hose for years and never used it, eventually I cut off a 4m piece and if I can't reach with that I use a 10ltr container.

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Other than the water, I cant think of anything I don't use......but we are well under weight

 

[Northern Boy]

Semi-serious question

I had my MH weighed the other day and was very surprised to find I was 3513KG (need to be under 3500KG). So to be fully-serious, if you or me had an accident and some one was injured or god help us killed and we were overweight we have a life changing situation. If you kill someone doing 40mph in a 30 limit its an issue, so is being overweight. Now I don't want to take the Fun out of MHF but I think we need to make sure we are within weight or up plate.

So just to lighten up this post, I took out two excess leisure batteries, removed the awning, took out 24 litres of bottled water, removed my apocalyptic survival things, like two jacks, and lost about 250 or 300Kg.

Just my opinion you understand.

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[mitzimad]

The wife

 

[RobbyMClark]

The wife

I suppose I could always go back for her the next day.

 

[Pausim]

For me the answer is to get the van weighed before being stopped and load it accordingly. Making a few planned load changes such as aluminium gas bottles and LiFePO4 batteries when you have time to consider what is important to you rather than a panic dumping when faced by an official.

If I got it wrong I would transfer weight to my toad and if necessary unhitch it and ask my wife to drive it, so yes I might dump "the spouse". If you really can’t live within the weight limits of your vehicle you could buy a trailer and transfer some weight into it.

 

[jongood]

Ditch the books and get kindles, dont run with full tanks, and eat more salad ?

 

[Emmit]

Hang on jongood
Are the Funsters going to buy a gazebo full of kindles!
However they do very well buying our books for Prostate Cancer UK.

On a serious note apart from the books we are very conscious of carrying (or not) excess 'stuff'
.

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[Minxy]

Other than fresh water (reserving sufficient for a cuppa though!) and the contents of the grey waste tank (200kg+ if both fairly full) it would likely be cheap stuff like bottles of lemonade (2kg each), cheap tinned veg all of which could be donated to food banks by the 'kind' officers! If that didn't do it then it would have to be hubby (92kg)!

Seriously though, we wouldn't be travelling overweight in the first place nor within weight but with overloaded axles.

 

[Spriddler]

...... how would you lose a couple of hundred kilos?

I couldn't jettison anywhere near as much as that.
My motorhoming intention is to get away, not take it all with me.

 

[Langtoftlad]

had my MH weighed the other day and was very surprised to find I was 3513KG (need to be under 3500KG). So to be fully-serious, if you or me had an accident and some one was injured or god help us killed and we were overweight we have a life changing situation. If you kill someone doing 40mph in a 30 limit its an issue, so is being overweight.

Killing anyone at any speed is an issue I'd have thought
You have a 5% tolerance before DVSA even begins to think about prosecuting - so that's a 175kg buffer.
If your van is able to be uplated without any modification then the 3500kg restriction is a paper restriction not a technical one. Shouldn't be a factor in any accident.
Good luck to any insurance company trying to recover everything after a smash to accurately weigh what's left of your van, if they want to go down that route.

In answer to the OP's question - water.
Always travel with full fresh water, so that's 100kg.
And if I'm more than 100kg over, then I deserve the 'book' being thrown at me.

 

[Lenny HB]

You have a 5% tolerance before DVSA even begins to think about prosecuting - so that's a 175kg buffer.

Depends which side of the bed he got out of, nothing to stop them doing you for being 1kg over.

We could always dump the water 160kg, waste & loo will be empty if the water is full.

And what about weighbridge tolerances +/- 110kg on a plate, +/- 150kg per axle on a Dynamic.
Be safe travel 300 kg under like we do.

 

[Blue Knight]

.......and eat more salad ?

Jon, that's a cracker. I wonder if we can petition the NCC to adopt the following motto:

"Low On Payload, Eat lettuce".

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[Langtoftlad]

Depends which side of the bed he got out of, nothing to stop them doing you for being 1kg over.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...and-financial-deposits#excess-weight-offences

"A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more."

 

[Bessy765]

Anything you haven’t used in earnest over the last three trips (that is if you can remember them) leave it behind. When I urprated our 2012 Elddis Aspire 255 in 2015 to get the semi air settings somewhere near the best pressure, before disconnecting anything, I emptied the. Van of everything that wasn’t nailed down measured the height from the rear jacking points to the ground, fitted the air bags and fitted the 225/70/r15 tyres to replace the 215/70/r15 to get the 2240 kegs rear axle loading. Then started to put back the gear. Found that a lot of the must have this may come in handy items gradually accrued since we bought the van new in 2012 had never been used so left them out. There were more items left out than went in so put them in several boxes and using the bathroom. Scales that came to 63 kg. Then put enough air in 2.3 bar to bring the van back to. Where it was when empty/

 

[Hoovie]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...and-financial-deposits#excess-weight-offences

"A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more."

for a 3.5t GVW van, 5% means 175Kg overweight. That sounds to be a pretty generous actually. If someone has a Motorhome with a quoted payload of say 700Kg (which would be pretty high?), 175Kg overweight equates to overloading with their 'stuff' by 25%.

Now here is a question ....
The link says "When a fixed penalty notice or conditional offer is issued for an excess weight offence, the examiner will also prevent the vehicle going any further"
It then goes on to say "but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition".
Does this mean that if you are 5% or less overweight, no penalty will be issued, AND THERFORE the examiner will NOT prevent the vehicle going any further - so the excess 175Kg will not need to be shed before you can carry on?

(unless the leeway comes under the 'conditional offer' umbrella?)

 

[Lenny HB]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...and-financial-deposits#excess-weight-offences

"A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more."

As I said nothing legally stopping you for being 1 kg over, guidelines are not legally binding.

 

[Detnor]

We were stopped in France (all motorhomes and caravans) and there was no options regarding leeway, there were two coned lanes off the pads, one back onto the road, one off to be processed.
It was pass/fail on the documented weight, we were 200kg under, still felt guilty sitting there. They were allowing water to be dumped over a grate and be re weighed.

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[Langtoftlad]

Does this mean that if you are 5% or less overweight, no penalty will be issued, AND THERFORE the examiner will NOT prevent the vehicle going any further - so the excess 175Kg will not need to be shed before you can carry on?

Technically an offence will have been committed, even if you're not prosecuted, nor a fixed penalty issued - so I doubt you'd be allowed to continue until legal.

 

[two]

Seriously, any passengers:
They are unlikely to be stolen or impounded and can find their own way back.

 

[jongood]

Jon, that's a cracker. I wonder if we can petition the NCC to adopt the following motto:

"Low On Payload, Eat lettuce".

Ironically I don't have a payload issue - although one could argue that I do have a slight weight issue - stood at the wrong angle in bad lighting

 

[Crazylegs]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...and-financial-deposits#excess-weight-offences

"A £100 penalty will be given for a 0% to 9.99% overload, but DVSA examiners will allow a 5% leeway before issuing a fixed penalty or prohibition, unless the relevant weight has been exceeded by 1 tonne or more."

This information relates to commercial vehicles carrying goods for reward or hire in the UK. Private vehicles are subject to different rules and fines. These may have been updated but the fine for a overweight privately owned vehicle if appropriate was £60, however the examiners usually preferred to advise and inform rather than prosecute unless the overload was so serious that it compromised safety.

 

[Stealaway]

Only ever travel with the minimum of fresh water needed for the journey.
Leave the spare wheel and tools at home - (take the tow hook)
Only have half a tank of fuel if your are only going short distances.
Buy some lighter gas bottles.
Declutter - if you've not used in two years - leave it a home

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[nicholsong]

I had my MH weighed the other day and was very surprised to find I was 3513KG (need to be under 3500KG). So to be fully-serious, if you or me had an accident and some one was injured or god help us killed and we were overweight we have a life changing situation. If you kill someone doing 40mph in a 30 limit its an issue, so is being overweight. Now I don't want to take the Fun out of MHF but I think we need to make sure we are within weight or up plate.

So just to lighten up this post, I took out two excess leisure batteries, removed the awning, took out 24 litres of bottled water, removed my apocalyptic survival things, like two jacks, and lost about 250 or 300Kg.

Just my opinion you understand.

It is unlikely that being a little over 3500kg would of itself contribute to the accident, because base vehicles are usually at least certified up to at least 3850kg, including brakes, suspension etc. One might have broken licensing laws and vehicle operating laws but that did not contribute to the accident.

Geoff

 

[Kirsten]

has anyone actually been stopped in the UK and had the van weighed? Just asking .....

 

[Minxy]

has anyone actually been stopped in the UK and had the van weighed? Just asking .....

for a friend?

 

[Lenny HB]

One of the Hymer club members got checked at Notti gham services on the Mq a few years ago. £60 fine for over on rear axle, £69 for over on rear axle & £60 for over on gross. Gave him a ticket to allowing him to proceed to his destination but no further.

 

[Barclaybasher]

I once arrived in Mallorca by ferry in a car so overladen that I could not get onto the unloading ramp - the car just 'grounded'

The crew kindly raised the ramp to horizontal just for me, I drove on - then they lowered me - smiles all round (mine from embarrassment)

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